Idiots Guide to Drugs...

[belabelisa]

What would you say are the top 10 - 15 drugs that you give on a regular basis? I am in desperate need of a quick and dirty pharm review.

You see, I am about to start semester 4 out of 5 of a BSN program, which is the last semester of clinicals before I graduate. I'm also hoping to begin an externship on a Med/Surg floor within the next few weeks. The problem is that drug memorization has not come easily for me and I have not retained much of what little I did manage to memorize for exams.

I would like to at least have a basic knowledge of the most commonly used drugs at this point. I really appreciate your help!

[mauxtav8r]

As Meownsmile said above, and as a good (experienced) nurse friend counseled me . . .

Drugs come in groups. A "cardiac" patient will usually have something for BP, something for fluid management, possibly a CHF-drug. You get the idea. A "post-op" will have a cluster of stuff that pertains to a) the surgery itself, and b) their original complaint, plus c) their other chronic history stuff.

Remember what groups usually go together for the big/common diseases. After a while you will notice that some docs (or some hospitals) favor one drug over another (Zofran or Kytril, they don't generally get both).

I'll repeat what was said above, review the med sheet and stick to the categories.